European, especially German, value chains are still heavily dependent on the automotive industry. This goes hand in hand with a great deal of process expertise, which ultimately “only” needs to be transferred to new products and market segments in the course of the mobility transition. However, the barriers to entry are high, especially for the suppliers that characterize this industrial sector. Commercial fuel cell or electrolysis stacks are expensive, cannot be modified and are often only accessible as part of contract development with hard NDAs. In this presentation, a solution to this dilemma will be presented, that benefits both the suppliers, who can expand their product portfolio independently, and the OEMs, who can procure reliable components and subsystems without having to disclose their own knowledge.

Frederik Wewetzer, Saxon Hydrogen Competence Center KH2